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The Twilight Zone (1985)
The 1980s continuation of The Twilight Zone. Aired across three seasons (the first two on CBS, the third in syndication). The second season is the last Twilight Zone work to air on CBS. Like its predecessor, the show is an anthology series. Unlike its predecessor, the 80s version uses more then-modern music (like a new wave-esque remix of the original theme song). Also like its predecessor, some of the episodes are based off of stories. And like its predecessor, most, if not all, of the episodes, lead to the character's downfall. See also The Twilight Zone (1959) and The Twilight Zone (2002) for the original series and second spin-off, respectively. Tropes *Financial Failure: Taken to extremes. Mrs. Wolfe is a shopaholic (apparently, even more so than Caitlin from 6teen, seeing how most of the other credit card companies have cancelled her cards), and to ensure the company that issued "The Card" gets their money, they repossess everything (remember, this is Just to Get a Laugh, because if it actually was played seriously, all her secured debt would be repossessed as it eventually is, but not her unsecured debt), even Mrs. Wolfe herself. In other words, "The Card" is probably to scare credit card users who never paid back their debt to pay it off (or at least the minimum payment). *All Debt is Secured Debt: See "Financial Failure" above. *Anthology Series *Obscurity, much?: Yes, most of the show is on YouTube. No, CBS' legal team isn't taking them down most of the time. That pretty much sums up the show's obscurity. *Exceeds the Requirements: That pretty much sums up "Examination Day". Apparently, they don't like kids that are too smart, and Richard Jordan, Jr. was a child prodigy (he was older than Lisa or Dexter during the events of the episode), and he wasn't even assigned a number. In short: the dystopia from the episode doesn't like child prodigies, and set regulations which Richard Jr. exceeded, and he was therefore executed. **His parents even burst into tears upon finding this out; not only did they get him an Omnicoder for nothing, they also lost their son. **It's worth nothing that Richard Jordan, Jr.'s actor (David Mendenhall) was older than the character he played (David was 14 when the episode premiered), but his character is 12 due to the plot. Specifically, the scene with the Omnicoder accidentally revealed the actor's age (Richard Jordan, Jr said that he thought he couldn't have an Omnicoder until he was 14, which was actor was) at the time. *Adult-oriented Aesop: One big one in "The Card", which could scare credit card users who defaulted on their credit card bills into finally making at least the minimum payment. However, it's pretty much funny for everyone else (especially for the Twilight Zone addicts). *Everybody needs to be healthy: Surprisingly not the main issue in "Misfortune Cookie". Harry Folger didn't experience the effects of eating too much, simply because he was dead. *That's a Capital Idea: Mr. Folger takes the advice to visit the restaurant before he can decide on a review. *Innocent punishment: Sometimes at the end of the episode: **Mr. Wolfe cancelled the check which was supposed to get Mrs. Wolfe her children back. As a result, she was repossessed herself, but not before she cut her credit card in half. **Harry Folger got a fortune called "You're Going to Die". As a result, he ended up surrounded by Chinese restaurants, and he got a fortune cookie simply reading "You're Dead". If it was done in a realistic situation, Harry could've simply been banned from the restaurant, but The Twilight Zone being The Twilight Zone... **Richard Jordan, Jr. scored too good a mark for his examination, and was therefore executed.